Corbin began his lifelong love affair with the cello at age 12, because cello was closest thing to a guitar that his school offered at the time. By 17, having outfitted his cello with a pickup and effects pedals, he ventured early on into improvisation and styles of music beyond the purview of classical. He studied music at the University of Colorado, Western Washington University and Vancouver Island University. During his time as assistant director of the New Direction Cello Association, Corbin had the opportunity to meet and share ideas with cellists from around the world, which greatly influenced his playing. Corbin has played on many recordings, including three of his own: Call of the Wild Cello (2003) Bad to the Bow (2009) and UnBowed (2013). His current passion is searching for obscure works by female composers and arranging them for cello, if they’re not already written for the instrument.

Testimonials

“Corbin was a joy to have at Musicfest. As a performer, he was loved by the audience and challenged his fellow performers with some of the best workshop stuff we have ever had. He is also a nice guy... something that I feel is very important to the vibe of our event. He is fun. I received numerous positive comments from our festival audience about Corbin and highly recommend you hire him!”

- Doug Cox, Artistic Director, Vancouver Island Musicfest, Comox, BC

“Corbin Keep represents a fresh voice in the realm of non-classical cello. He combines technical explorations of the instrument’s sonic possibilities with humor and easy to like grooves to form a new concept of what a cellist can do. Combining this with his voice and witty lyrics, Keep is able to provide a flow of energy and interest in his solo performance which is very hard to achieve with the cello.”

- Chris White, Director, New Directions Cello Association

“Whether it’s alien spaceships, wild beasts in the night, blue grass ditties, or rock and roll, Corbin Keep can do it all – on a cello. Corbin’s mastery of his instrument is so complete that he regularly astounds people with the sounds that he can extract from it. His stage presence and outrageous humour often raises the excitement level of the audience to a fevered pitch, which he then sustains throughout the show, throwing himself completely into his performance.”

- Don Bowes, Artistic Director, Sunshine Music Festival, Powell River, BC